Eleven Hamilton students participated in the Harvard National Model United Nations conference at the Boston Park Plaza on Feb.14-17. The conference consisted of approximately 3,000 delegates from 30 different countries. Samantha Power, a 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning author on the U.N. and the Rwandan genocide and professor at Harvard University, delivered a speech about leadership in international policy for the opening ceremony.
Students attending from Hamilton College were Mikhail Bell '08, Amanda Pooler '08, Melissa Kong '08, Matt Arnold '09, Henok Alemayo '10, Sitanshu Mishra '10, Maria Del Pilar Lozada '11, Heather Parker '11, Anna Zeng '11, Kunter Kula '11, and Roman Kolosovsky '11. They represented the delegation of Fiji on the Model U.N.'s Legal Committee, Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, World Health Organization, World Summit on Children, Economic and Financial Committee, and the World Trade Organization.
In preparing for the conference, Hamilton students conducted extensive research and submitted position papers with Government Professor Ted Lehmann, the MUN faculty advisor, in order to accurately portray Fiji's foreign policy at the conference.
Students practiced public speaking and writing skills while they acted as delegates of the United Nations, taking part in international negotiations and creating resolutions with other delegates for some of the world's most pressing issues. Debated topics ranged from the issues of child soldiers and transnational organized crime to water sanitation and the security of the Gaza strip.
Mikhail Bell, a first time delegate for MUN, was in the Economic and Financial committee, said "Amanda Pooler and I met two cool guys from the University of Tampa (representing Vietnam) and formed a very healthy working relationship with them. Since our disciplines differed –between us we studied finance, world politics, managing information systems and English - we all learned something from each other. My only regret is that I did not participate in Model UN sooner. I learned so much in a committee about a topic addressing something I previously had never heard of."
Among the delegates of more than 100 countries in the United Nations, there were also students representing prominent NGOs and acting as guest speakers. The World Summit on Children, for example, had a student role-playing as a former child soldier from Uganda who related her experiences to the committee. The global issues that were discussed were pertinent and substantive; delegates are given the opportunity to face some of the serious challenges of international diplomacy, as well as the strengths and limitations of the UN organization.
During free time, students had the chance to explore the city of Boston and socialize with fellow delegates from all over the world. Harvard also hosted social events for the four-day conference, such as a Club Night, dance and cocktail hour.
Hamilton College Model United Nations has previously attended conferences at Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Montreal. Model United Nations is funded by Student Assembly, the Levitt Center, and the Office of the Dean of Diversity and Accessibility.
-- by Matt Arnold '09
Students attending from Hamilton College were Mikhail Bell '08, Amanda Pooler '08, Melissa Kong '08, Matt Arnold '09, Henok Alemayo '10, Sitanshu Mishra '10, Maria Del Pilar Lozada '11, Heather Parker '11, Anna Zeng '11, Kunter Kula '11, and Roman Kolosovsky '11. They represented the delegation of Fiji on the Model U.N.'s Legal Committee, Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, World Health Organization, World Summit on Children, Economic and Financial Committee, and the World Trade Organization.
In preparing for the conference, Hamilton students conducted extensive research and submitted position papers with Government Professor Ted Lehmann, the MUN faculty advisor, in order to accurately portray Fiji's foreign policy at the conference.
Students practiced public speaking and writing skills while they acted as delegates of the United Nations, taking part in international negotiations and creating resolutions with other delegates for some of the world's most pressing issues. Debated topics ranged from the issues of child soldiers and transnational organized crime to water sanitation and the security of the Gaza strip.
Mikhail Bell, a first time delegate for MUN, was in the Economic and Financial committee, said "Amanda Pooler and I met two cool guys from the University of Tampa (representing Vietnam) and formed a very healthy working relationship with them. Since our disciplines differed –between us we studied finance, world politics, managing information systems and English - we all learned something from each other. My only regret is that I did not participate in Model UN sooner. I learned so much in a committee about a topic addressing something I previously had never heard of."
Among the delegates of more than 100 countries in the United Nations, there were also students representing prominent NGOs and acting as guest speakers. The World Summit on Children, for example, had a student role-playing as a former child soldier from Uganda who related her experiences to the committee. The global issues that were discussed were pertinent and substantive; delegates are given the opportunity to face some of the serious challenges of international diplomacy, as well as the strengths and limitations of the UN organization.
During free time, students had the chance to explore the city of Boston and socialize with fellow delegates from all over the world. Harvard also hosted social events for the four-day conference, such as a Club Night, dance and cocktail hour.
Hamilton College Model United Nations has previously attended conferences at Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and Montreal. Model United Nations is funded by Student Assembly, the Levitt Center, and the Office of the Dean of Diversity and Accessibility.
-- by Matt Arnold '09
